Springtime in the Middle of Winter
by Dark Nuriko
Summary: Yuri has always been overly nervous and worried about everything. Yet when his idol decided to come coach him, he finds he's going to need a lot more than just confidence in his skating to find what he wants. Will he be able to win in all the competitions in his life or will he fail when it matters most. A fanfic taken from the beginning of their tale. Victor/Yuri K.
1. In The Beginning

_Title:_ _ **Springtime in the Middle of Winter**_

 _Author:_ Dark Nuriko

 _Category:_ Yuri! On Ice!

 _Genre:_ Romance/Humor/Friendship

 _Pairings:_ None at first, eventually Victor/Yuri K.

 _Warnings:_ Shounen Ai, Language, Naughty Thoughts, perhaps Yaoi in later parts.

 _Ratings:_ T to NC-17, depending on my mood.

 _Disclaimer:_ Yuri! On Ice! And its wonderful characters do not belong to me. If they did, it would have been obviously Yaoi from the first episode. I make no profit off this fanfiction.

 _Author's Note:_ Seeing as I've been away from writing for a long time, I'm sure most of my readers are upset with me. As I write this, I am also working on several stories that have been ignored for quite a while. Life caught up with me and I just never had time to write. Now, it seems life has other plans for me. Due to medical issues as well as a recent car accident that left me car-less but at least alive, I am now able to focus far more time to my writing. As such, I've decided that a story centered around an anime that is swiftly becoming one of my absolute favorites would best suit a comeback to writing. Thus, we get this fic for Yuri! On Ice! I'll start out with simple friendship, taken from the beginning of the series from Yuri's POV and possibly go further from there. Depending on reviews, I might or might not even take it full Yaoi. Do let me know if my come back is worth it or if I should stop while I'm ahead. Now, onto the story.

 ** _Springtime in the Middle of Winter_**

 _Chapter One: In the Beginning: Yuri POV:_

It's funny how one moment in your life can change everything. Never had my life ever been so complicated as it was the moment I came home to find the one person I would never have suspected to be in my home. I'd returned to my home in Hasetsu, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan to sulk and sink into the realization that I was finished as a figure skater. It was a small town with a few things that most small places wouldn't have. Like its own ice rink and a bathhouse that my family ran. Both were rather popular in the winter months, though it still wasn't as popular a spot as other vacation spots.

So why was it, that after resigning myself to never skating again, I had gone to the ice rink to have a pity skate? I'd let my mind wander and channeled the man I had been chasing after since I'd first seen him skate. Of course, I didn't believe I could ever do his programs justice. Yet I'd had fun all the same. It was a shame I would probably never skate in front of a crowd again. Yet suddenly, the day after the event, I found that footage of my skate had been placed online and was swiftly growing in popularity. I knew without any doubt that it had been Yuko's daughters who had done the video. I knew as much after Takeshi had called to tell me so. I wasn't overly upset, despite knowing it was going viral. It was possibly the last time anyone would see me on the ice, anyway.

So why was it now that there was a new change? Why was it that the man I had been imitating in that video was now in my family's bathhouse? Why was VICTOR NIKIFOROV here in JAPAN!? In my FAMILY'S place of business!?

Those were questions I knew I'd never know until I asked him. Yet how did one go about asking their idol why they were anywhere? Especially since talking to him had always been hard in the long road I had been chasing him. Seriously, we'd possibly shared a mere handful of words. Yet here he was, dog and all, in my home town.

My first Grand Prix Final ended horribly. After years of hard work, training non-stop, and chasing after my idol, I'd come in dead last and even ended up crying in the bathroom afterward. There was no end of amazing skaters and so many people expected so much from skaters. I'd come here so I didn't have to think. Of course, coming into the Grand Prix, I'd sabotaged myself. The family dog had died, I binged on food, and gained far too much weight. I flopped in the Grand Prix Finals and I also lost at the Nationals. Once that happened, it was just one large downhill flop and lead to me having nothing more to do for the season.

I continued to watch Victor win over and over and returned home to much praise, despite the fact I'd lost so much. I returned home fatter and less happy than ever. I'd totally planned to return to Yu-topia Akatsuki, my families hot spring/bath-house, to figure out what to do now. I'd originally wanted to quit, because I knew there was no chance I could fix what I'd already started with. I went to Ice Castle Hasetsu, the ice rink in town, to practice and just enjoy myself. I'd always loved ice skating and watching Victor, I'd become even more enamored of the sport. Seeing Yuko, I found myself wanting to skate for the girl who had always encouraged me, despite the unhealthy obsession I had with the Russian skater. In fact, she shared in the obsession with me.

I'd shown her the one thing I'd been working on for so long. I had been watching Victor for so long, that his every movement on the ice was pretty much ingrained in my mind. So, that day, I'd performed one of his programs flawlessly. Or rather… Yuko said I did. She called it a 'Perfect Copy of Victor'. She knew I was depressed. Believed I would be lost. And she was right. Yet now… I didn't know what to do. I'd come home and was tackled to the floor by a door that looked a whole lot like the one I'd lost. I'd named him Victor and even got him after seeing a picture of Victor with his own dog. The dog had greeted me rather warmly and my father came out to mention the very thing I'd noticed. That it looked a lot like Victor. He'd then informed me that he came with a new arrival to the hot spring. A good-looking young fellow with an accent.

Without waiting, I dashed into the hot spring, my father calling after me. Yet when I arrived, I found a very naked Victor in the bath, standing before me as I called out his name. "V… Victor… why are you here?" was all I could manage to get passed my lips.

To my surprise, he stood up, out of the water, naked as the day he was born and unashamed of it. He held out a hand to me and smiled. Then said the very words I would never forget. "Hello Yuri. Starting today I'm going to be your new coach. You're going to get to the Grand Prix Final and you're going to win." He then winked at me and gave me a small laugh. Which only caused me to shout out a single word.

"WHAT!?" I mean, what else could I have done?

It wasn't every day that one's idol came to your home and proudly announced not only the plan to become your coach, but to also have you win an event you'd previously came in dead last in. Seriously, I'd worried the man had just completely gone mad. Either that, or I was dreaming. Though I wasn't certain which seemed more realistic. Seriously, that was just crazy. I should have been dreaming, since he seemed to have an interest in me. That just… couldn't be right.

Yet Miss Okukawa, my ballet teacher, had decided to wake me from my thoughts when she'd burst inside and demanded to know about the rumors going around. When she'd found Victor passed out in one of the inns robes, she then went on to tell me that it seemed the rumor was that when Victor had watched the video of me skating to his routine, he'd become inspired and had decided to become my coach. He wanted me to be his protégé, and that was something I still was having trouble believing.

Of course, when he'd awoke, he said he was hungry and asked what I was enjoyed. When he had the pork cutlet bowl, he'd enjoyed it completely. So it came as no surprise that when he learned I normally was only allowed them when I won and that I'd been having them all the time since coming home, that he'd demanded that I stop having them and immediately ordered me to get back in shape. At least back to my weight from the Grand Prix Finals.

It should have been insulting, to be called fat and piggy by the man I idolized, but really, he was right, so there wasn't much to be insulted about. When I'd helped him to his room, I'd found myself once more off balance. Especially when he'd gotten right in my face and invaded my personal space while speaking simply.

"Now then, I want to know everything about you, Yuri. Like what kind of rink you skate at and what hobbies do you have?" At that, he got even closer, his hand coming up to cup my chin. "And if there's a girl you like?" he continued, even as his other hand then moved to touch over my arm and slid down against my hand. At this, I knew I was flaming bright red. I had never been comfortable being close to people and Victor was invading personal space in a way I had never had anyone invade before. It was a little disconcerting. Even more so, it was almost overly embarrassing to have him so close and saying such things. "Let's get to know each other. A relationship like this should be built on trust, don't you think?"

Of course, I'd reacted in the worst way possible. I cried out and scrambled back swiftly, moving as far out of the way as possible. There was so much I hadn't thought about and the other man was just speaking things that I would never have believed to hear before. Especially coming from another male.

"What's wrong, why'd you run away?" Victor questioned, even as I could tell I was having trouble still being so close to him.

"It's nothing… just a leg cramp," I'd used as the excuse for what I had done. It was strange. I had only been twelve when I'd first seen Victor. He'd been sixteen. I'd been awe inspired. He was a big reason for me spending time getting better at ice skating. I'd even began losing weight and working hard. I wanted to be back on the ice and Victor had banned me from it for till I wasn't overweight. It was amazing knowing that such an amazing man was here to coach me after having been inspired by my own skating of his routine.

Of course, once I'd lost the weight, I was given another surprise. Yuri Plisetsky. He'd suddenly showed up and kicked me into building. He was angry and I couldn't blame him. He was just as impressive as Victor and the following scene was far more than I had ever expected. Especially when it ended with Victor deciding to choreograph a program for both of us. The winner would get to keep Victor as a coach.

I was nervous. Yuri was far more confident and proud. That meant I had to work harder. I couldn't wuss out. I would have to work as hard as possible. Of course, I never realized that there was going to be so much that both of us were going to have to work on. On Love: Agape. On Love: Eros. It was a theme that both of us had agreed we were going to be far better for certain ones. Yet Victor had slammed us hard with reality. First, he'd placed us with the opposite songs that we'd originally wanted to do. Agape, innocent love, for Yurio, which is what my sister had dubbed the Russian Yuri as. Eros, Lustful Love, for myself. It was the opposite of what the both of us understood.

Yet Victor had a solid point. We couldn't just stick to what we were comfortable with. We didn't fully know ourselves and we were still new to the whole thing. Which meant that we had to work on ourselves or he would just write us off and teach neither one of us. I found myself overly eager for what was to come. While Yurio had demanded that if he won this little competition, he wanted Victor to go back to Russia and train him, I had demanded that I wanted to be able to win and eat pork cutlet bowls with him. Not just this time. But every time I continued with him and won. It was bold words from me. Yet I knew I was serious and that feeling would be powerful.

Victor was once more the most impressive person ever. He'd pulled me in. He'd seduced me with his words. It was amazing how much Eros the other man had put out and it had driven me a bit crazy. He was so close as he spoke. He was so sexy when he showed me the skills. Man, it was insane how much another man could affect me. Even worse that I was letting it distract me in ways I hadn't thought possible.

Soon, there was tons of training and lots of hard work. I watched as Yurio and I both struggled to understand our short programs. As the competition neared closer and closer, I could tell we both were having issues. Yet, the day before, I saw a change. Yurio caught his muse and I realized I was still missing mine. Which I luckily found after we'd chosen costumes. With that in mind, I ran to my ballet teacher's place and requested some help. I had a single day and night to perfect what I need.

As competition day arrived, I watched as Yurio performed. A beautiful, ever evolving monster. At fifteen he was impressive and I knew that it was the day at the waterfall, that had changed everything. I feared that I'd never be able to win against such a thing. I felt fear wash over me. Even as I began to tell myself that I had to win. Otherwise, Victor would leave. I begged him to watch me. And he promised me he would. So, I knew I had to skate my best. No matter what. At first, I didn't know who I was dancing for. But once I was on that ice, I knew.

I knew I couldn't be the playboy to that song. It just wasn't who I was. I had to be the woman. The one being teased. I had to be better than any woman out there. I had to show Victor I was best. When I was finished, the cheers were amazing. And Victor's words were impressive. That made me so happy. Even with the lecture afterward, I was still completely happy. So much so, that when I was announced as the winner, I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous, standing on the podium.

"It's official. Yuri Katsuki is the winner of the Hot Springs on Ice. Now, do you have any words for the audience?" the announcer asked, even as Victor stood beside me and Yurio was nowhere to be seen.

"Um… well…" I began, my words obviously showing off just how nervous I was. Feeling a sudden warmth around my shoulders I felt myself straighten up slightly and feel more confidence than I'd ever felt before, even as my cheeks colored a faint pink. "This was the beginning. With Victor, I hope to win the Grand Prix Final. Thank you all for your continued support." At that moment, I knew the battle for my figure skating career, which I had once believed was over, had just began. And it was all because of the unexpected turn of events that had lead my idol to my door. What had begun as a farewell to skating had become the jump start I needed to find just what was missing.

Glancing at Victor at that moment… I found I had to correct myself. It wasn't just what I had been missing. It was what we'd both been missing. Hopefully, I wouldn't let him down. Sure, it was a little strange having my idol so focused on me. Even the flirting was strange. If I was more confident, I'd say he was serious about it all. Yet he wasn't, of that I was sure. He had just wanted to bring out the most in me. After the skate-off, I could tell it had paid off. Sure, I had never found myself attracted to men and I wasn't planning to start now, but I didn't feel it was wrong to enjoy the attention, even if it was just to improve my skill as a skater. I would learn all I could from Victor for as long as he was willing to teach me. If that meant being teased, well, there was worse things to deal with… wasn't there?

To Be Continued….


	2. Moment of Truth

_Title:_ _ **Springtime in the Middle of Winter**_

 _Author:_ Dark Nuriko

 _Category:_ Yuri! On Ice!

 _Genre:_ Romance/Humor/Friendship

 _Pairings:_ None at first, eventually Victor/Yuri K.

 _Warnings:_ Shounen Ai, Language, Naughty Thoughts, perhaps Yaoi in later parts.

 _Ratings:_ T to NC-17, depending on my mood.

 _Disclaimer:_ Yuri! On Ice! And its wonderful characters do not belong to me. If they did, it would have been obviously Yaoi from the first episode. I make no profit off this fanfiction.

 _Author's Note:_ Wow, I haven't written in so long, yet here I am, cranking out another chapter rather swiftly. I am taking some quotes directly from the anime, but at the same time, the story will start to vary from it starting in this chapter. For as much as I'd like to stay true, using parts that are word-for-word to do so is too much work and this author totally likes the tension between the two men. Hopefully, I'm doing it justice so far. What do you all think? Even just requests for more will make me happy.

 ** _Springtime in the Middle of Winter_**

 _Chapter Two: Moment of Truth: Yuri POV:_

"Yuri, do you know why I'm here? Why I decided to be your coach?" Victor asked me suddenly, when we were both in the hot spring. I had been feeling a little down, since I knew there was a lot I still needed to work on. Even more so, I feared I was disappointing Victor, since he was the one who saw such promise in me for some unexplainable reason. I felt my eyes go wide at those words, even as I suddenly had my hands grabbed by Victors own. He pulled my arms up, bringing me up to meet his gaze.

"I was drawn to you because of the way you move to the music. Like the songs already inside you and your using your body to release it." At this point, his naked body was right in front of my own. I was still in the water while he was somewhat kneeling before me, leaning down to meet my startled brown gaze. A faint pink already building at the gentle look he was giving me. "You need a high difficulty program to maximize that potential," he continued, his gaze serious, almost passionate. "I knew I could give you that."

He then pulled me up close, grinning broadly. "And the short program confirmed that I was right!" he exclaimed, even as he took one of my legs and lifted it, pressing me into a pose that was completely not right for a naked male to take with another, especially in a bath. Yet the other seemed too excited, I couldn't really say anything, even as I was getting flustered and embarrassed. "Now, we're moving on to the free program. And I think you should produce this one yourself."

"Huh?!" I exclaimed, even as I was pulled into even more interesting poses. "But my coach has always chosen my program music for me."

Of course, that had led to a whole new can of worms. This made Victor order me to call my former coach. Of which, I had been tense about doing for a long time. Yet the call had gone well and it seemed like Victor had come to understand something about me from it. Yet what that was, I couldn't be certain.

Of course, this had also gained me some serious ire from Victor, who demanded to hear the music I had once considered. I never would have said it, but even back then I had felt there was something weak about it. I had always felt that there had been something off with it. An underwhelming piece for an underwhelming career. Being told to choose my own music had become hard and I found I was having difficulties choosing a piece. Victor told me to recall a time when I had a lover… to which I had snapped. I had never had one and of course, being reminded about it, hadn't helped things at all.

It started a chain reaction of Victor attempting to do things with me. To make me feel better. I was embarrassed and so I ran from him as much as I could, avoiding him. I was eventually dragged off to the beach. We had a serious talk. I let him know about a time in Boston, when I'd felt like I'd been treated like I was weak. I was surprised when he'd told me I was far from weak and that those who knew me would know that as well. He then shocked me even more.

"What is it you want me to be to you? A father figure?" he'd asked, even as I shook my head. "A brother or just a friend?" he asked, to which I couldn't help but answer with a swift 'no'. "So then, your lover. I'll try my best," he said in a bit of a cocky tone, to which I almost jumped a foot off the sand from a kneeling position and turned toward him.

"No, no, no," I exclaimed, once more off guard. I swiftly got onto my feet and looked down at him, swallowing slightly. "All I want is for you to be who you are," I answered after a moment. "I look up to you. I always have," I continued, even as Victor turned his gaze toward me. "I was afraid to let you see my short comings. I guess that's why I've been avoiding you. I'll make it up to you by skating my best."

He smiled and held out his hand, watching me. "You have a deal and I won't let you off easy. That's my way of showing my love." At that, we shook on it, and I knew that it felt best, opening-up to him. I knew I would have to open-up even more for things to work out between the two of us. I found that while we were waiting for the music I was hoping for to arrive from a friend of mine, I asked Victor to help me with my jumps. We'd both found that I had far more stamina that even Victor. While it was true I was younger than him, I didn't feel it was that much of a difference. And I'd made poor Victor depressed when I couldn't help but give in to temptation to touch the top of his head when he was bowed before me.

As soon as the music came in, both Victor and I got overly excited. Victor asked if the theme had changed and I, of course, agreed. The piece's theme was On My Love. That was my new theme. And I knew why. Sure, he was special to me. Someone I admired like a god. My own personal angel who had come to assist me. I knew I loved him. Wither it was romantic or some other love, I wasn't certain. I didn't know how long he'd stay with me or how long my body would hold up. Figure skating was a short-lived career as it was. So, I knew that this could be my last season anyway. Yet through it all, I wanted to finish this out with Victor at my side.

"Yuri? Is something one your mind. You seem distracted again," Victor said suddenly, which snapped me out of my thoughts. Of course, as I snapped back to reality, I realized that his stunning blue eyes were staring into my face, his face mere inches from my own. I gasped and pulled back, blushing. Damn, it was embarrassing how nervous I could get whenever he got close to me. I was certain my Asian upbringing was only a small part of that embarrassment and nervousness that I felt.

"Ah, no, no, no! I'm fine! It's just getting late and I guess I'm just getting tired," I murmured, licking my lips. I knew this event was going to be tough. Especially since Victor wouldn't be in the line-up this time around. Of course, those around us had reminded me that lots of people were going to hate me. Even claim that I stole Victor from the sport. I knew it was going to be different though. I wasn't just going to be skating alone. I would have someone there, beside me. For the first time, I could clearly see what was before me. It was amazing… and I had Victor to thank for all of it. And I knew being honest with him was going to help that grow. "And well… thank you," I said suddenly, despite grumbling that I must have just been getting tired. With as much stamina as I had, I was sure Victor knew that wasn't it. Yet the surprise on his face brought about my own surprise.

"Thank you for what?" he questioned, tipping his head slightly in a way I thought was just a bit cute.

"For being here with me. For helping me. Honestly, I was drowning and lost before you came to coach me. I thought I was done before I'd ever started. Then, you came along and picked me up from the depths of despair. You encouraged me, insulted me, teased me, and tormented me. All the while, I never once thought about giving up. Instead, the more you continued to stick by me, the more I knew I wanted to keep going. With you right there beside me," I answered. I knew I would probably never be able to repeat those words again, but I was glad that for a moment, I had enough courage and confidence to open-up to him.

"Yuri…" Victor whispered, even as a faint blush of color seemed to cross his cheeks for a moment. It was kind of adorable to see him so flustered. Especially when he was normally the one doing it to me. It seemed that being open and trusting with Victor did have some surprisingly nice perks when I could manage it.

"Sorry… guess I got a little carried away, huh?" I murmured, feeling myself blush as well suddenly, one arm moving to rub the back of my head in a nervous motion. Yet instead of words, I found myself suddenly enveloped in a hug, my eyes growing wide behind my glasses. "V… Victor?" I questioned, slightly confused.

"You're amazing, Yuri! And I plan to be there through it all. So, don't ever apologize for speaking your mind. It was your skating that first caught my attention. Now, it's who you are completely that has me captivated. So, if anyone should be grateful for having them beside them, it's me," Victor answered, which caused the tables to be turned and my own face to once more flare up in a blush. Damn, the man just couldn't let me win. Yet, that was kind of what I liked. I knew it was because he was raised differently, came from a different place. Having him speak so easily about being happy beside me and always hugging and getting so close to me… it was easy to find myself beginning to be drawn ever closer to his flame. Someday, I knew I'd be burned. He had lovers before and I knew he'd find someone again later. I wasn't going to fool myself and fall in love when I knew he would be moving on eventually.

That didn't mean I couldn't enjoy the little moments as they came though.

"Victor… I think you're the amazing one," I answered simply, even as I pushed away from him, attempting to give us some space. "Anyway, if we're done, we should head back to the inn. I'm sure my mother's got dinner all ready for the both of us and I know you hate it when it gets cold."

Of course, those words spurred Victor to change his tactics and he moved away from me, which was what I was going for. "Of course! Come on, we're done tonight anyway. So, we shouldn't keep dinner waiting… or your mother."

Watching Victor eagerly heading up from the beach and toward the road that would lead us back to my home, I couldn't help but admire the man. The sun was just setting and seemed to make his hair shine. It was already a beautiful silver color naturally. The setting light just highlighted it and made it even more impressive. His body was still naturally toned and fit, the mark of his years as a figure skater. Even as a coach, he would still practice on the ice and even move with me during my own practices from time to time.

Of course, reminding myself of that only succeeded in making me flush a bit more and lower my head to hide it as I began to slowly follow the Russian. For so long I had been one of his biggest fans. I had followed him for as long as I could remember. Yuko had been the one to introduce me. Because her family owned Ice Castle Hasetsu, ice skating was something she was rather familiar with. I had always enjoyed coming over and skating, but I had never done anything serious with it. Seeing the Russian skater on the ice for the first time, it had made my heart race and my love of the sport began. I soon took up figure skating on top of the ballet I was already learning. Minako-sensei even told me that it would help, if figure skating was the way I wanted to go. Since it was, I listened to her advice and kept both activities going. Surprisingly, I had come to thank her for her advice. Because I had never stopped with the ballet, it made a lot of my step sequences and spins so much easier. As such, those were now some of my best elements.

It also seemed that those were some of the things that had gotten Victor to notice me, since that was usually what got me so wrapped up in the music. Being a fan, I ended up with a shrine to Victor in my room. Posters of all kinds had been plastered up in my room for as long as I had been a fan. My older sister had teased me that I should have been born a girl, for how much I was obsessing over another male. Granted, she had admitted he was a very attractive male, but that had still stung just a bit. Of course, it was kind of true. If I was female, I probably would have been head over heels in love with the silver haired skater. Though, truth be told, there were a lot of things that we could do now together that I wouldn't be able to do if I was female.

"Yuri!" Victor cried out, even as he seemed to suddenly settle around my shoulders from behind. This startled me from my thoughts and caused me to jump slightly. When had he gotten behind me? And when had he gotten so close without me noticing?

"V… Victor?" I murmured questioningly, glancing over my shoulder toward him. Sure, if I was female, he might be more interested in me as a lover, but he wouldn't be so close to me all the time as he was now. Though, to be fair, the way he acted, I don't think gender is really an issue to him.

"You were walking so slowly and didn't even answer me when I called your name several times. What are you thinking about now?" the blue-eyed coach questioned, to which I almost had no answer. Yet before I could say 'nothing' I stopped myself and decided now would be a good time to try to catch the other off guard once more.

"I was just remembering what got me into figuring skating in the first place," I answered honestly, beginning to slowly move forward, even with Victor still hanging off my back.

As if I had just given him a wonderful gift, he smiled and hugged me a little tighter. "I am curious. What did get you interested in skating?" he asked, almost as if a child eagerly waiting for the desert he'd just been offered. It was quite cute how he got so over eager for such simple things. Of course, my answering smile seemed as if I had been about to tell him it was a secret and not give him that prize he was so eagerly awaiting.

"Well, to be honest," I began, watching him begin to make that pouty face that he usually did when he knew I was about to be mean to him. Seriously, I don't know which was going to give out first. Either my body would break from the hard work skating placed on it or my heart would give out over how adorable Victor could be when he was being teased. "It was you. You were… are my idol. When I first saw you perform, I found myself in love with the sport… and with you."

The arms dropped from around me as Victor seemed to stare at me in shock and surprise. He'd known he was my idol, but I suppose he hadn't realized just how important he had been for me. I could tell that those words, coupled with what he could remember of the very first we met were flashing through his mind. He looked so lost for a moment. So shocked. It was as if I had just given him a whole new world of information. To which, I suppose that was true. Blushing softly, I grinned and decided that instead of staying to hear his words or perhaps even elaborating more, I would do what I did best. I'd run. "Race you home!" I called, before turning and sprinting off, heading for Yu-Topia Akatsuki at a dead run. I never stopped to see if he was following. Nor did I bother to wait to see if he had wanted to say something in reply. I had just told another man that I was in love with him. Wither that was romantically or in some other fashion, I wasn't certain. I did know it was something one didn't go around saying lightly. At the same time, I felt proud of myself for being honest with him. Once again, I had opened-up to him and it made me feel ten times better. Now, if only I could get my pounding heart and flushed face under control before we both had to be around one another again.


	3. Dancing on the Blades

Title: Springtime in the Middle of Winter

Author: Dark Nuriko

Category: Yuri! On Ice!

Genre: Romance/Humor/Friendship

Pairings: None at first, eventually Victor/Yuri K.

Warnings: Shounen Ai, Language, Naughty Thoughts, perhaps Yaoi in later parts.

Ratings: T to NC-17, depending on my mood.

Disclaimer: Yuri! On Ice! And its wonderful characters do not belong to me. If they did, it would have been obviously Yaoi from the first episode. I make no profit off this fanfiction.

Author's Note: And just as another episode comes out to make my heart both jump in excitement and worry, I find myself hard at work on yet the next chapter. Hopefully, dear readers, you are all enjoying yourselves and I'm not writing some travesty. Do let me know in some small way you're enjoying this, even if it is just to demand more. Also, starting here we will really start moving away from the anime. Mostly because a lot of what I want to do will be done after the series, because I don't want to just write fanfiction about what we already know is going on in the series.

Springtime in the Middle of Winter

Chapter Three: Dancing on the Blades: Yuri POV:

Surprisingly, I hadn't heard anything about the confession at the beach from Victor in the days that followed. The Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship went by in a blur and both of us had been far too busy to focus on something I'd said. Nerves had been rampant and Victor had even taken to chastising me when I'd been rude to one of the other skaters, who apparently looked up to me as I looked up to Victor.

Yet even with nerves and a face-plant in the wall, I found myself with a first-place win. The first I'd ever received. Sure, it was against a bunch of young boys who were just starting out, but it still made me happy. The icing on the cake was just how proud Victor had been of me, though he'd avoided a hug after my free skate, seeing as I was bleeding from my nose.

"So, next is China. Are you eager for it?" Victor asked, even as we were in a hired car for the short trip back home. A small smile crossed my lips at that thought. Home for us was the same place. It was almost far more than I could have ever dreamed of. Even Victor had started calling it home and that made me smile even more.

"A little bit," I admitted, even as I could feel my nerves once more beginning to build. The competition had just ended, but it was just the first in many on the way toward the Grand Prix Final. Because I placed so poorly last season, I had to work even harder to even get close to it. With the Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship under my belt, the easiest part of this journey was over. From here on out, it would be people closer to my own age. People I had skated around before. My friend, Phichit Chulanont, would be there. While I was happy about that, I also knew there would be others with whom I had skated with before and were not on as good terms with. Leo de la Iglesia and Guang-Hong Ji were two skaters I didn't know too well, but I knew they were nice people. The one I was most concerned about was Christophe Giacometti, who was at more of a Victor level of skating. That meant he was going to be the hardest person to beat. Though I knew slacking off was something that I couldn't… wouldn't do. Victor was putting so much of himself into all of this. He was taking time away from his own career to train me. So, I couldn't afford to be so stubborn or foolish.

Victor laughed softly at that and I found myself glancing toward him. What was so funny about what I said? Apparently, there must have been some questioning look on my face, because he gave me a small smile before speaking. "You say that and yet your face looks like you're going to face a firing squad," he remarked with humor in his voice.

I could feel heat creep up my throat and wash across my cheeks, even as I looked away from him. "Well… if we're honest, this was the easiest of the competitions I will be in. Sure, they were skilled but fairly new still to the sport so in that aspect I had a large advantage."

"Not to mention that cute little blond had a huge idolization fix toward you," Victor commented, the smile still not leaving his lips.

That, I would have to agree with. Minami Kenjiro had been rather adorable, looking up to me the way he did. He'd even gotten upset when I'd talked down about myself. I'd never realized I had inspired other skaters before. Just like Victor did for me, I was a role model for other skaters... and that made me happy.

"Well, I suppose that's true. He did seem to idolize me. I admit, that's pretty new," I admitted, even as I found myself smiling softly. I'd never dreamed of having a fan before. At least not one that looked up to me. So to me... it was kind of new but I liked it all the same.

"Its nice, isn't it?" Victor questioned, giving me a knowing look. I couldn't help but nod and smile at his question.

"Yes. It also gives me a bit of motivation that I wasn't expecting. Its fun, knowing there's someone out there who looks up to me."

Victor grinned and placed an arm around me. "Its one of the reasons I was so happy to realize you looked up to me. Because knowing you liked me means that my helping you as a coach means a lot more," he remarked, which only succeeded in making me blush once more. Damn, the man certainly loved to get me to blush. And while I couldn't fault him... it did get a little tiring at times.

"So... what's planned for when we get back? More training?" I asked, hoping to change the subject and get the other to stop teasing me for a little bit.

"First, its sharing a pork cutlet bowl to celebrate... and then we can worry about more training in the morning."

Tears filled my eyes as I turned to look at Victor with a surprised look. This, of course, had the Russian all off guard. He was obviously not realizing why I looked like I would cry. "You remembered," I whispered softly, knowing that in the past, Victor had shown that remembering certain things wasn't something he was good at. Yurio would be the first to agree with that.

Victor seemed confused for a moment before he smiled softly and nodded. "Of course. It was the one thing you said you wanted to do, wasn't it Yuri? Sure, it wasn't a gold win, but you did bring home first place. So I fully believe that this event deserves eating pork cutlet bowls together."

I couldn't stop myself then. I moved in and hugged the silver haired male. He seemed surprised for a moment, but then hugged me back. It was well known I didn't normally instigate any of the closeness between us. It was always Victor who made the first move. Yet this was something I couldn't hold back from. Not when I really was happy he remembered such a simple thing.

Victor seemed frozen for a second, perhaps because he hadn't been expecting me to inciate a hug. I couldn't blame him, since normally, I would let him always do whatever he wanted. It just seemed that if Victor was going to be so touchy-feely toward me, that I wouldn't keep trying to stop him. So I guess having me actually make a move first for something like that, surprised him. Yet I could feel his arms wrapping around me to hug me in return and I found I wasn't as embarrassed as I normally would be to be held by my idol this time.

"You know, Yuri, its okay to feel nervous. Its okay to worry. But in the end, you have to have confidence in yourself. That no matter what, you're going to do your best despite how you feel inside. Once you accomplish that, then even when the stress and nerves of competition begin to wear on you, when you step out on the ice, they'll just melt away," Victor told me, even as I couldn't help but stare at him as he pulled back and let his blue gaze meet my ordinary brown one.

"That's funny, it almost sounds like you're speaking from experience," I joked, looking away after a moment because I couldn't keep my eyes on his. Those blue eyes looked through me. They saw everything. There was nothing I could hide from him and he knew it, too.

Victor's expression got serious as he answered, my gaze having glanced toward him and catching the look, making me unable to look away. "Just because you only see the confident side of me on the ice doesn't mean I don't have the same worries and fears as other skaters," he said after a moment.

"But..." I trailed off as one of his fingers came up to press against my lips, effectively silencing me.

"No buts," Victor began, tipping his head to the side in a rather adorable way, watching me closely. "You see what I want everyone to see. When I'm in front of the crowds, I make myself act as if its all apart of my competition. Its all as if I'm on the ice and showing anything else other than confidence is wrong. Even as your coach, I treat it as I would anything else and don't show any weakness."

"You... feel nervous and worried before events as well?" I murmured questioningly, even as I really didn't expect an answer after what he'd told me. It was hard to imagine. After all, he seemed so calm, collected, and confident all the time. How could there ever be a time where the man I idolized wasn't in control? There was just no way. It wasn't possible.

"Hey, I'm glad you think I'm some super skater. Kind of flattered, honestly. Yet to tell the truth, I'm not some superman. I'm not flawless. I just have a mind to never show the weaknesses I have when I'm out on the ice. That's what everyone see's. So I suppose it isn't surprising that that's what you would believe as well." Victor's words sank deep inside my mind, reminding me of the press confrence after the competition and the announcement of my skating routine. I'd been so nervous, yet I'd done just as I was told by Victor. I told the truth and spoke from my heart. Sure, it was embarrassing, since I'd admitted I wanted to go as far as I could with Victor and that it was because of him that I'd learned love. Yet... there was a lot of that love that no one realized. Sure, it started out innocent enough. But being so close to him, hugging him so much, being intimate with him in ways I've never been with anyone else. Sure, none of it was sexual, but that didn't matter. In the end, it was what it was beginning to mean to me.

I was falling in love with Victor... and I wasn't certain I would survive it when this whole dream ended and I found myself going seperate ways from him.

To Be Continued:

Added Author's Note: Sorry its so short, but as I said at the beginning, I plan to start changing the story because while the anime is doing an amazing job with them, there is a lot of questions I personally have and that I want to answer. So the skating will be taking a back seat. Most of what will be written will be between events and after the GPF, of which, I will only be taking a guess as to who wins. Though that could change if it takes me longer to write this than the series goes. Though I hope it doesn't.


End file.
